Alan Cumming Urges Support For HIV Organisations As A ‘Lasting Legacy’ For Tip Toe
Alan Cumming has called on fans to support HIV-focused charity initiatives by buying a t-shirt inspired by the Channel 4 drama Tip Toe, as part of broader efforts to raise awareness of HIV stigma.
Alan Cumming posted on Instagram calling on supporters to buy the T-shirt and support the campaign to help build a “lasting legacy” for the show.
In the video, Alan Cumming said:
“Leo runs a bar called Spit and Polish in Manchester gay village. Spit and Polish is more than just a bar. It’s a sanctuary where everyone feels safe, celebrate and free. And now you can buy your own Spit and Polish T-shirt to support people like Leo living with HIV because while treatment has changed beyond our wildest dreams the stigma around HIV still remains with too many people still met with stigma, judgement and isolation. By wearing your T-shirt you’re helping to build a lasting legacy for Tip Toe and making sure that no one faces HIV alone.”
He also noted that: “Thankfully, successful treatments have been found and now people like Leo just take one pill a day which keeps their HIV in check and means they cannot pass HIV on to anyone else.”
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Tip Toe, a five-part drama from writer Russell T Davies, follows characters in Manchester’s Canal Street district and explores the impact of stigma, community division, and HIV in a contemporary setting.
The series follows Leo, played with enormous warmth and complexity by Alan Cumming, and his increasingly hostile neighbour Clive, played with terrifying authenticity by David Morrissey. There’s a host of LGBTQIA+ people, like Leo’s ex and all the staff at the Canal Street queer bar, as well as Clive’s unhappy and ignored wife, and his two sons, who are the catalyst for this neighbourhood dispute turning ugly.
Cumming said the project carries a wider social responsibility beyond television storytelling. “Joy, queer joy, trans joy, Black joy is a form of protest,” he said.
He also encouraged viewers to support the HIV charities connected to the initiative, which include the Terrence Higgins Trust and the George House Trust.
Tip Toe continues writer Russell T Davies’ exploration of HIV-related storytelling following his acclaimed series It’s a Sin, which documented the early years of the AIDS crisis in the UK.
Davies has described Tip Toe as a continuation of that narrative, focusing on contemporary HIV experiences and the long-term realities of treatment and stigma reduction.
Tip Toe is streaming on Binge in Australia.
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